The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a providing medium, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a providing medium capable of discriminating electronic appliances of the same type easily at a user side when a plurality of electronic appliances are connected through an IEEE 1394 bus or the like, and allowing the user to read and write necessary information directly from and in each electronic appliance.
As a system composed by connecting a plurality of electronic appliances and communicating among them, a system using the IEEE 1394 bus is known. In this system, when a plurality of electronic appliances of the same type are connected, one of the means for discriminating them is a technique of furnishing the electronic appliance main bodies with slide switches and assigning by numerals, such as VTR1, VTR2, and so forth.
In this conventional technique, the user must identify the VTR1 and VRT2 with actual electronic appliances, and it was a burden for the user side. As an improving measure thereof, a method of discriminating electronic appliances of the same type by providing the electronic appliances with easy names or nicknames by the user is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 7-212662.
In such conventional method, however, although electronic appliances of the same type can be discriminated, the information of the individual electronic appliances such as the guarantee, manufacturing date and so on cannot be directly written in or read from the electronic appliances by the user.
The invention is made in view of the above circumstance, and it is hence an object thereof to present a constitution in which the user can easily recognize the electronic appliances of the same type, and the user can directly read and write necessary information from and in the individual electronic appliances.
A first invention relates to an information processing apparatus controlled by transmission of command conforming to a specific protocol from other appliance mutually connected through a bus, comprising memory means for storing a descriptor that can be read by the command as a hierarchical list, and control means for writing text data or graphic data relating to the appliance, inputted by specific operation or command, at a specified position in the hierarchical descriptor stored in the memory means. Therefore, the text data or graphic data relating to the appliance is written in a part of the hierarchical descriptor that can be read or written by a specific command, and by using the written data, information necessary for identifying the appliance can be easily obtained.
A second invention relates to the information processing apparatus of the first invention, in which the text data or graphic data written in by the control means is data relating to the name of the appliance. Therefore, the name of the appliance can be easily set by the user""s input or the like.
A third invention relates to the information processing apparatus of the first invention, in which the text data or graphic data written in by the control means is made as memo data entered in relation to the appliance. Therefore, various memos relating to the appliance can be easily stored in the appliance by the user""s input or the like, and read out when necessary.
A fourth invention relates to the information processing apparatus of the first invention, in which the text data or graphic data written in the memory means by the control means is written in a part of the hierarchical descriptor. Therefore, when reading out the text data or graphic data written in the memory means from other appliance, by tracing along the hierarchical structure, the memory position of the desired data can be reached easily, and it can be read out easily.
A fifth invention relates to the information processing apparatus of the first invention, in which the text data or graphic data written in the memory means by the control means is written in other descriptor than the hierarchical descriptor, and the information of the writing position is written in the hierarchical descriptor. Therefore, based on the instruction in the hierarchical descriptor, the memory position of the text data or graphic data written in the memory means can be easily judged, and the text data or graphic data relating to the appliance can be easily read out.
A sixth invention relates to the information processing apparatus of the first invention, in which the text data or graphic data written in the memory means by the control means is composed of a plurality of of data. Therefore, a plurality of of data relating to the apparatus can be held.
A seventh invention relates to the information processing apparatus of the sixth invention, in which a specific one of the a plurality of data is read out by priority from the memory means and used. Therefore, when a plurality of data relating to the appliance are held, the data to be used is determined according to a specific condition.
An eighth invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of controlling other appliance mutually connected through a bus by transmission of a command conforming to a specific protocol, comprising input means for inputting text data or graphic data, and transmitting means for transmitting a command for writing in the text data or graphic data inputted by the input means to the descriptor of the other appliance as the data relating to the appliance through the bus. Therefore, information necessary for identifying the appliance connected through the bus can be easily written in.
A ninth invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of controlling other appliance mutually connected through a bus by transmission of a command conforming to a specific protocol, comprising transmitting means for transmitting a command for reading out memory data of the text data or graphic data concerning the appliance to the descriptor of the other appliance through the bus, and control means for using the text data or graphic data as display data for recognizing the other appliance when receiving the text data or graphic data added to a response based on the command sent out from the transmitting means. Therefore, the information for identifying the appliance, stored in the appliance connected through the bus, can be easily read out and displayed.
A tenth invention relates to an information processing system composed of a first appliance and a second appliance mutually connected through a specific bus, in which the first appliance stores the text data or graphic data relating to the own appliance at a specific position of a descriptor which can be read out by a command conforming to a specific protocol, and the second appliance sends a command for reading out the text data or graphic data stored at the specific position of the descriptor of the first appliance, and uses the text data or graphic data obtained by the response based on that command as the display data for recognizing the first appliance. Therefore, the information necessary for identifying the appliance connected through the bus can be easily written into the corresponding appliance, and the information necessary for identifying being written in that appliance can be easily read out and displayed.
An eleventh invention relates to an information processing method in which a descriptor which can be readout by a specific command conforming to a specific protocol from other appliance mutually connected through a bus is stored as a hierarchical list, and text data or graphic data relating to the own appliance inputted by a specific operation or command is writter at a specific position in the stored hierarchical descriptor. Therefore, the text data or graphic data relating to the appliance is written in a part of the hierarchical descriptor which can be read or written by a specific command, and by using the written data, the information necessary for identifying the appliance can be easily obtained.
A twelfth invention relates to the information processing method of the eleventh invention, in which the text data or graphic data to be writter is made as data relating to the name of the appliance. Therefore, the name of the appliance can be easily set by user""s input or the like.
A thirteenth invention relates to the information processing method of the eleventh invention, in which the text data or graphic data to be written is made as memo data inputted in relation to the appliance. Therefore, various memos relating to the appliance can be easily stored in the appliance by the user""s input or the like, and read out when necessary.
A fourteenth invention relates to the information processing method of the eleventh invention, in which the text data or graphic data to be written is written in a part of the hierarchical descriptor. Therefore, when reading out the text data or graphic data written from other appliance, by tracing along the hierarchical structure, the memory position of the desired data can be reached easily, and it can be read out easily.
A fifteenth invention relates to the information processing method of the eleventh invention, in which the text data or graphic data to be written is written in other descriptor than the hierarchical descriptor, and the information of the writing position is written in the hierarchical descriptor. Therefore, based on the instruction in the hierarchical descriptor, the memory position of the text data or graphic data written in can be easily judged, and the text data or graphic data relating to the appliance can be easily read out.
A sixteenth invention relates to the information processing method of the eleventh invention, in which the text data or graphic data to be written is composed of a plurality of pieces of data. Therefore, a plurality of pieces of data relating to the apparatus can be held.
A seventeenth invention relates to the information processing method of the sixteenth invention, in which a specific one of the a plurality of pieces of data is read out with priority and used. Therefore, when a plurality of pieces of data relating to the appliance are held, the data to be used is determined according to a specific condition.
An eighteenth invention relates to an information processing method capable of controlling other appliance mutually connected through a bus by transmission of a command conforming to a specific protocol, comprising a process of inputting text data or graphic data, and a process of transmitting a command for writing in the text data or graphic data inputted by the above process to the descriptor of the other appliance as the data relating to the appliance through the bus. Therefore, the information necessary for identifying the appliance connected through the bus can be easily written in.
A nineteenth invention relates to an information processing method capable of controlling other appliance mutually connected through a bus by transmission of a command conforming to a specific protocol, comprising a process of transmitting a command for reading out memory data of the text data or graphic data about the appliance to the descriptor of the other appliance through the bus, and a process of using the text data or graphic data as display data for recognizing the other appliance when receiving the text data or graphic data added to the response based on the command sent out at the above process. Therefore, the information for identifying the appliance stored in the appliance connected through the bus can be easily read out and displayed.
A twentieth invention relates to a providing medium for providing a program which can be read by a computer for executing the process comprising a step of holding a description which can be read out by a specific command conforming to a specific protocol from other appliance mutually connected through a bus as a hierarchical list, and a step of writing text data or graphic data relating to the own appliance inputted according to a specific operation or command at a specific position of the hierarchical descriptor. Therefore, by using the program provided by the medium, the text data of graphic data relating to the appliance is written in a part of the hierarchical descriptor which can be read or written by a specific command, and by using the written data, the information necessary for identifying the appliance can be easily obtained.